“Not a big fan of fruits and veggies, huh?”
He looked hurt. “I looked it up, and corn can be considered either a fruit or a vegetable, depending on who you ask. So, as you can see, I have bags and bags of fruits and veggies.”
Lana raised up on her toes to get a better look. “Those are Fritos.”
“Which are made of corn,” he said smugly. “So I’m covered.”
“I stand corrected,” she agreed, since he obviously already had this all thought out. “At least you don’t have a pizza boxes stacked up to the ceiling.”
Max grinned and opened the fridge, displaying four Pizza Hut boxes stuffed in there so tightly Lana wasn’t sure if they’d ever come out.
“I prefer my pizza cold,” he said.
She threw up her arms in surrender. “Of course you do.”
“While we’re talking about food, have you eaten yet?” he asked. “I’m sure I can find something to your vegetarian tastes, even in my limited pantry.”
His offer reminded her that she hadn’t eaten yet and definitely could, even if it meant breaking into one of his cardboard-box dinners.
“I wouldn’t mind eating, but after you’ve finished showing me around,” she told him.
“That should only take another five minutes.”
With that, Max led her out of the kitchen and back into the living room. They slowed long enough for her to take in the monster-sized TV and video game station, which in her experience was mandatory for all single guys. But he also seemed to have what looked to be a pretty good selection of DVD and Blu-ray movies in a bookcase off to the side.
From there, they walked down a short hallway with a bathroom on the right, a larger-than-average bedroom on the left, and a nice walk-in closet in the middle. Max might have a bachelor TV and game station out in the living room, but his bedroom was surprisingly nicely decorated, painted in subdued tones of olive green and earthy brown. Even the blankets on the bed had a warm tan hue that went perfectly with everything else. Along with the casual furniture, the colors made for a relaxing ambience. She couldn’t help noticing that his bed, with its thick comforter and plump, fluffy pillows, was big enough to wrestle on—at least the kind of wrestling she had in mind.
Lana quickly forced her thoughts in a different direction. If she didn’t, it was possible they might not make it out of this room for a while.
As they turned to head back into the living room, a framed photo on the tall dresser caught her attention. In it, a teenage boy who looked a lot like Max had his arm around the shoulders of a younger girl with the same dark hair and charming smile.
“Is that you in this picture or your brother?” she asked, sure it had to be Max even though the boy in the photo was so much smaller than he was.
Max grinned. “That’s me. And I know what you’re thinking, but I was only seventeen in that picture and just starting my growth spurt.”
“Is the girl your sister?” she asked softly, remembering what he’d said the other night about his family not getting out of the crappy place they used to live.
The smile disappeared, his face turning serious. “Yeah, that’s Sarah. She’s thirteen in this picture. It’s the last photo I have of her. She died a little while after her fourteenth birthday.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “What happened?”
The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it, but the moment she saw the pain in his eyes, she realized she should never have gone there.
She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I’m not pushing or anything.”
“I know.” His mouth curved into a sad smile. “It just that I’ve gone out of my way to avoid talking about the subject for so long, hoping the memories would go away, that it’s hard to open up about it. But after the day I’ve had, maybe it’s better if I finally do. And if I’m going to tell anyone the details about what happened to my sister—to my family—I want it to be you.”
Lana had a sudden, unsettling thought about the connection between his sister’s death and the bad day he’d had. She quickly pushed it aside for the moment though and focused on the feeling that came over her at his words. Here was a guy she’d recently started seeing telling her he felt comfortable enough with her to share something this incredibly private and personal. It was a powerful admission—and a little overwhelming. Once again, she was awestruck by how lucky she was to have stumbled across Max. Men this amazing didn’t come around very often. Tears stung her eyes and she quickly blinked them away before he could see.
“I’m glad you feel that way. How about we talk over dinner?” She smiled up at him. “Assuming we can find something out there to eat.”
Max laughed and took her hand. “I’m sure we can. Come on.”
That something turned out to be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and truthfully, she was thrilled. Lana hadn’t eaten a PB&J since she was a kid, and as she and Max stood side-by-side at his kitchen counter spreading spoonfuls of creamy goodness over toasted wheat bread, she had the feeling maybe she’d been missing out.
Max drowned several of his sandwiches in grape jelly before holding the plastic bottle out to her with a questioning look. She reached out and took it, figuring she’d better do it herself or risk overdosing on sugar from too much jelly.
While she did that, Max poured two big glasses of milk; then they carried everything over to the small table. She looked down at her two sandwiches, then at the big stack on Max’s plate. There was no way he could possibly eat like this all the time, not with the way he looked. Then again, maybe he had the same fast metabolism she did.
